Photo by Karim Shamsi-Basha.
Hargis Retreat offers church and organizational retreats, band camps, day conferencing, reunions and picnics year-round. The YMCA of Greater Birmingham has sold the 179-acre property in Chelsea to a developer, Eddleman Properties.
The YMCA of Greater Birmingham announced in April it has sold its long-popular Hargis Retreat in Chelsea to a developer, Eddleman Properties, for $2.1 million, saying it was no longer financially feasible for them to operate the facility.
The 179-acre property, located near Old Highway 280, will host the 2019 YMCA Summer Day Camp but will close permanently as of Aug. 30, according to a YMCA news release.
Hargis features a lake and such amenities as hiking trails, athletic fields and a swimming pool. It has been a popular place through the years for groups to rent space for picnics, band camps, church retreats, school retreats and day conferences. In 2018, Hargis served more than 10,000 people from 111 groups, according to the YMCA.
However, the organization said it could no longer afford to operate the retreat. “The demand for year-round meetings and retreats is in decline and cannot generate the revenue the Y needs to continue to operate,” the release states.
And a YMCA spokesperson, in a recent email, told 280 Living that “the market has changed drastically. Today there is little need for a retreat center, and we’ve experienced sharp yearly declines.”
“The staff and volunteers are saddened by the need to release the property, which has meant so much for so many,” said Dan Pile, YMCA president and CEO. “However, we are heartened about the possibility to serve more people in YMCA programs and facilities in Shelby County.”
The Y will continue its outdoor summer day camps in 2020 and beyond at a location to be announced.
Eddleman Properties, which is located in Mountain Brook, did not respond to a 280 Living request for comment about its plans for the site. According to a report from AL.com, the company developed the Brook Highland and Meadow Brook communities in north Shelby County, as well as other neighborhoods in Chelsea and Jefferson County.
The YMCA began operating the Hargis Retreat Center in 1999 after buying the property from First Christian Church of Birmingham.
In 20 years, the retreat has hosted about 13,000 youth and teens in its summer day camps, and the YMCA provided more than $1.1 million in financial support for the mission-based program, the release states. Hargis Retreat also offered full meal service and seven lodges of various sizes, including a multipurpose meeting hall that accommodates up to 330 people, according to the YMCA website.
The Y will also host some “closing celebrations” this summer to allow people to “pay their respects to the lake and beautiful surroundings” at Hargis, the release states.
First Christian Church had the right of first refusal to purchase the facility back from the YMCA. However, the congregation at FCC voted in November 2018 not to exercise its right to buy the property back, according to Bruce Moon, chairman of the church’s trustees.
Despite the vote, church members had an emotional tie to Hargis Retreat, according to a statement in November 2018 from Senior Minister Troy Tatum, who has since left FCC for a new position in North Carolina.
The facility “holds a special place in the history and memory of First Christian Church of Birmingham, serving for many years as a place for rest and spiritual renewal for our members and community,” Tatum said.